Nantucket Location

African Meeting House

The African Meeting House is the only public building constructed and occupied by African Americans in the 19th century still standing on Nantucket. The small post-and-beam building, a National Historic Landmark, is the island’s most vivid reminder of a thriving 19th-century Black community. The Museum presents cultural programs and interpretive exhibits on the history of African Americans on Nantucket, and makes the African Meeting House available for ceremonies and special events.

Meeting-house-1

^{Joseph Ferraro, National Trust for Historic Preservation}

Seneca Boston-Florence Higginbotham House

In 1774, Seneca Boston, a weaver and formerly enslaved man, and his wife Thankful Micah, a Native American, purchased land on Nantucket. They were major contributors to the free Black community that began forming on the island in the early 18th century. The Boston family maintained the house on this land until 1918. Florence Higginbotham purchased the house in 1920. Before her family sold the house to the Museum in 2001, its rooms were owned and occupied by African American families for over 200 years.

A project to preserve and restore the Florence Higginbotham House is underway with generous support from the Community Preservation Committee of Nantucket and the Tupancy-Harris Foundation.

Higginbotham

African Meeting House

Seneca Boston-Florence Higginbotham House

Black Heritage Trail®

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